Thinking about this some more, I have to agree with you that the centrist strategy of Clinton and Obama works.

Unfortunately, what this seems to mean though is that Democrats play to the center and take the more liberal arm more for granted.

But what interests me is how the right takes a somewhat different approach. They are constantly pushing the center to the right. And they constantly elect more and more far right candidates because they can get their base to turn out for the primaries. And they keep moving their base further and further right.

While it remains to be seen if this is isolating centrists from the Republican party, what I'm curious about is, how do you think "liberals" can effectively shift the center instead of playing to it?

I do think this is part of Obama's long term strategy, but curious about your thoughts.

Cheers
David

Did anyone catch the subtle and not so subtle digs at the Left in the new series "V"??

The not so subtle dig was "Anna" and her "Change is hard" speech.. :D Incidentially, for those into STARGATE SG-1, you should recognize Anna as "Adria" of the Orii...

The "no so subtle" dig to the left was the uniforms of the Visitors. For those old enough to recall the original series, the V's uniforms were a definite RED. The uniforms of the new V's are of the BLUE variety.

Maybe I am reading too much into that. Probably am. But the obvious and blatant references to Obama's campaign and administration slogans make the color switch from RED to BLUE stand out.

At least, in my not so humble opinion.. :D

Michale.....

I am properly chastised.. My bust, I missed that..

Michale.....

And Chris, nice point about his long term vision. I think this is one reason why I still feel I can trust him. Because I believe he's working towards a more progressive agenda. But at the same time he is doing it in a very practical fashion.

-David

p.s. Palin ... I'm already excited about the prospect of The Return of Palin. She is great comedy (as long as she doesn't win). Carly Fiorina is already off to a great start as well. Fresh off a fantastic McCain campaign ... err ... great run at Hewlett-Packard ... err ... oh well.

I'm so glad someone captured this before she had to take it down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClB4eOUjtUY

And yes, she really did use the tag line: Carlyfornia Dreamin'

Didn't you read to the end of the paragraph?

The only time he's really slipped up on this front was the whole "beer summit" nonsense, for which he can be forgiven (seeing as how a friend of his was involved).

Granted, I didn't use the words "Gates" or "Crowley" but I think we're in agreement that this was the big exception to what I was talking about.

-CW

Only a couple points..

Now, all of this isn't to say that I don't have my own annoyances with Barack Obama, which I point out frequently here in public. He has either broken or severely backtracked on a number of his campaign promises, I fully admit. But he has also kept and delivered upon a downright astonishing number (for any politician) of campaign promises, as well.

Yea, but look at the promises he has broken and look at the promises he has kept..

The promises Obama has kept has been of the, "I promise to wear pants at every press conference." In other words, inconsequential promises that have absolutely no real bearing on anything..

Now, let's look at the promises he has broken.

Transparency in government
Open public negotiations on healthcare
Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Defense Of Marriage Act
Revolving Door For Lobbyists
Closing Gitmo
Torturing Terrorists

These broken promises (and many more) are at the very foundation of the complaints against the Bush Administration. These are not namby-pamby "throw away" issues that don't mean anything to anybody. These are CORE issues within the Democratic Party.

So, while it is technically accurate to say that Obama has kept an astonishing amount of his promises, I think it's a quality, not a quantity, issue.

And the fact is, Obama has broken promises on the very important issues.

The most impressive thing about Obama, which I have noticed over and over again in the past nine months or so, is that he absolutely refuses to be drawn in to trivial subjects —

{cough} {cough} Sgt Crowley {cough} {cough} :D

Like I said, just a couple minor points, but overall a really excellent and insightful analysis...

Michale.....

I guess it really is the comparison between the Obama administration and the previous one, and between what we have now and what could have been under a McCain administration that helps to make President Obama and the team he has assembled look so good, at least from my perspective with my narrow focus on US foreign policy to the exclusion of almost everything else.

All I know is that I no longer go to bed worried that all Hell may break loose at any given moment in any given place in the world but, rather, knowing that we are in capable and competent hands and having faith that sound decisions will be made that are based on reason and intelligence.

That's change I can believe in!